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LOCAL PRODUCTS AND COOKING |
  
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| Etna's extremely fertile land, created over the centuries by the volcanic lava, and its sea, similarly generous with its gifts, provide the ingredients for a varied and longestablished tradition of cooking which is both fragrant and imaginative, pleasing to the eye and the palate, genuine and healthy. With its wild vegetables, all the species of edible mushrooms, mackerel, shellfish and crustaceans, home-made salamis matured in the mountain's cold, dry air, delicate olive oils and cakes made of marzipan and ricotta (a triumph of baroque fantasy), Etna cooking is motive for celebration for gourmets of every nationality. The wines and cheeses, famous since the time of the ancient Romans and Greeks, were once precious means of exchange in Mediterranean trade. The "nerello mescalese", "capuccio" and "ammantellato", as well as the famous white wines from the Milo area, are now classified as D.O.C. and are worthy of a king's table, as are the ricotta cheeses from Vizzini, the honey flavoured with orange blossom from Zafferana and all the marvellous citrus fruits produced here - oranges, lemons and tangerines - whose hearts are filled with the sun of this splendid fertile land. For those who wish to penetrate the secrets of this simple and ancient style of cooking, we recommend the volume: "Sicilia: la cucina del sole" written by Eleonora Consoli - ed. Tringala - Garzanti.
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